August 31, 2012

Electrical power affiliates program expands with additional company partnerships

An industrial consortium within Kansas State University's College of Engineering has recently added three new companies.

The Electrical Power Affiliates Program, or EPAP, supports student and faculty activities through a partnership with companies in the electric power industry. Noel Schulz, the college's associate dean of research and graduate programs and Paslay professor of electrical and computer engineering, directs the program.

Financial support from the companies sponsors student travel to industry facilities, student presentations at conferences and research that connects to the needs of power affiliates members. The program also supports undergraduate and graduate student projects and extends opportunities for internships and future employment opportunities in the power field. The program's four founding companies are Burns & McDonnell, Nebraska Public Power District, Omaha Public Power District and Westar Energy.

Joining these companies at the executive level is Kansas City Power & Light, or KCP&L, based in Kansas City, Mo. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, or SEL, based in Pullman, Wash., and Sega Inc., based in Overland Park, have joined at the member level.

"We are excited to expand our EPAP program and companies," Schulz said. "These three companies help us increase our regional and national footprint."

KCP&L has been lighting the way for the growth and prosperity of the Kansas City region since its founding in 1882. Since that time KCP&L has evolved to become the leading regulated provider of energy-related products and services for homes, businesses, industries and municipalities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its proven reliability and affordable rates have helped build satisfaction among residential and commercial customers in Missouri and Kansas.

KCP&L is committed to improving life in the communities it serves. Because of this, KCP&L actively participates in the communities it serves and provides financial support, community and corporate leadership and employee volunteerism to key partners in the focus areas of: at-risk youth, environment, and economic and workforce development.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, orSEL, was founded in 1982 when Edmund O. Schweitzer III invented the first all-digital protective relay, reducing the cost and complexity of power protection and revolutionizing the electric power industry. SEL products and solutions must be simple and reliable because they protect the largest, most complicated machine on earth: the electric power grid. SEL provides systems, services and products for the protection, monitoring, control, automation and metering of utility and industrial electric systems worldwide. Their company and products exist to make electric power safer, more reliable and more economical. Today, SEL provides products, solutions and services in 142 countries, employs more than 3,100 people worldwide and is 100 percent employee-owned.

Sega, Inc.

Sega Inc., a Kansas City area-based engineering and technical services firm, is 100 percent employee-owned and has been providing quality services since 1973 to the energy industry. Sega offers a full range of engineering services, including planning, project management, detailed design, construction management and commissioning to electric utilities, universities, industrial companies and municipalities. In addition to providing engineering services to support the traditional design-bid build delivery system, Sega Inc. can provide procurement and construction for a total turnkey package. The firm's focus areas are power generation, power delivery, air quality and environmental, and control systems.